Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

07-Jul-2012 -- It's been a very long time since my last visit here on 3rd October 2003, nearly nine years have gone by and an awful lot has happened in that time.

Things have also changed quite a lot on the ground, the fields are still there of course, as are the sheep in them. I have made reference in my previous reports to farm cottages. If you look closely at the picture you can see the entrance to the fields at the right.

Not any more you don't. The cottages have all been demolished and replaced by a single large detached house. The route into the fields is blocked off by a fence.

This time I found someone in! A very nice lady that I had a chat with about the project came to the door, she explained that there was no access from their property to the field. The owner lived next door where there is now a riding stables business, let's try there then.

Walk up the drive to the house, front door - no response apart from a barking dog. Side door - no response apart from the dog. Back door - you guessed it, no response apart from the dog.

Round to the riding stables - a car, with someone in it! Unfortunately they were just waiting for their child and couldn't help.

I feel that I ought to mention that this week in the UK has been one of practically continuous rainfall and there is very heavy flooding in the South-West. that'll be the south-west where this confluence is then...

In order to get here I had to drive through a small village where the main road goes over a bridge across the river. Not today though, today the river crosses the road. The water is about 12" deep so proceeding with extreme caution I nervously make my way through a lake about 100 yards wide.

I park by the cross roads, over the gate and through the field in the driving rain, everything is of course completely soaked and I will need to change my clothes afterwards.